Archive for the ‘Triumph TR3’ tag

While there are plenty of basket-case British roadster projects to be found, along with stratospherically priced and immaculately restored examples, turnkey drivers in the “just right” category between these extremes can be more challenging to find. This 1959 Triumph TR3 for sale on Hemmings.com, however, has already been restored and the seller states that it’s been stored in a heated garage since. It appears to be in very good overall condition, with many of the car’s potential problem areas already sorted, and it’s been driven on a regular basis. For about what you’d spend on a used Toyota Camry, this TR3 promises to deliver years of fair-weather fun and British charm. From the seller’s description:

There’s never a bad time to jump on board with British motoring, even if the first step may be substantial. In a world where ’70s Plymouths sell for just south of $2 million, and auctioneers politely inquire what harm could come of another ten thousand dollars, this 1959 Triumph TR3 makes more sense now than ever before. In all fairness, the seller honestly listed this car as a project:

Here is a TR3, Red with Black interior. For $5,450

If you choose to take on on this Herculean restoration, conjure the words of Winston Churchill himself while moving inexorably towards completion of your sporting machine. “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many long months of toil and struggle.”

Back in the export-or-die Fifties, British car companies tried everything they could think of to tap into the prosperous U.S. market. Here, American buyers step right off a BOAC four-prop Douglas DC-7C airliner to find their spanking new Triumph TR3s waiting for them on the tarmac. (How eager was Triumph for cash? We wouldn’t be surprised if the paint was still wet on some of those cars.)

This unedited newsreel footage was shot in 1957 by British Pathe, and is one of 90,000 or so newsreels filmed between 1896 and 1976 that are viewable on their website. It’s all searchable, and each clip comes with a pretty complete description of what it shows. (You can watch for free, or pay to download video clips or still images.)

As interesting as the cars themselves is the fashion show the Americans present. If you’ve ever wondered what the well-dressed American sports car enthusiast wore on a vacation to England during the Eisenhower years, here’s your answer.

This is British Pathe’s description of the clip:

Americans Collect their Triumph Cars

Unused / unissued material -

VS Of BOAC, DC7C arriving at London Airport. Various shots of rally participants disembarking from plane and taking over their cars, over the top of gangway of plane, sign reading “Welcome Triumph TR3 American Rally of Europe”. SV Man with camera. LS Batman. CU Two Americans looking over their cars. LS Cars lined up. CU Americans passing camera. LS Americans looking over their cars, plane in background. MS Woman getting into car. Various close ups of Americans making acquaintance with their cars. Further shots of rally drivers in their cars, setting out on their journey to Stratford-upon-Avon. MS Road sign A40 Oxford – A412 Rickmansworth.. MS Bull Hotel in Gerrards Cross, pan to cars outside. GV Cars lined up outside the Hotel. MS Car driving past camera, man and woman seated inside it.

We knew it’d be a big one. Combine the final cruise-in of the season (always a big draw), with absolutely perfect weather and more and more cars coming from farther and farther away and we had a record crowd last night here at Hemmings HQ. We stopped counting at 350, but best estimates put the total number of cars at somewhere closer to 400, packing both our parking lot and the parking lots across the street.

And we got great cars too. Like Ken’s 1975 Ford Falcon XB sedan, which he used to replicate Max’s Interceptor from the first movie (please, dear God, don’t let Hollywood remake that trilogy).

Larry Boardman of Simsbury, Connecticut, brought up his 1967 Corvair, which he dubbed the “Torvair” based on the Toronado 430-cu.in. V-8 he crammed into the back.

Pairings of vehicles always makes for an interesting display, and we have Kevin Dennis of Goshen, New Hampshire (86 Fiero GT) and Kyle Dennis of Newport, New Hampshire (85 Fiero) to thank for these two Pontiacs.

Nearby, James and Jenn Cross of Bennington, had their 1963 Chevy IIs emblazoned with “Just Married” signs. James’s is the flat black 350-powered sedan, Jenn’s is the Autumn Gold straight-six-powered sedan. Congratulations, you crazy kids.

Little dog, little car. Though I’m pretty sure the former didn’t belong to Neil Kenyon of North Bennington, the owner of the latter, a 1939 American Bantam.

Another Dan Rose car, this 1960 Peerless GT2 depends on a Triumph TR3 four-cylinder for motivation.

We had plenty of great trucks show up last night, including Clyde MacQuestor’s 1941 Chevrolet Suburban from Keene, New Hampshire.

And it’s becoming ever more popular to sit on the knoll across the street and watch the cars leave the parking lot. Those who chose to do so last night got quite the show.

We’re already looking forward to May, when next year’s cruising season begins. Keep an eye on Hemmings.com for the date of the first cruise-in of 2009!

Quick quiz- What car was styled by Giovanni Michelotti and hand-built by Carrozzeria Vignale in Turin, Italy from England-sourced Triumph TR3 parts, yet looked absolutely nothing like a TR3? Even those who are very familiar with Triumph automobiles may have never heard of the 1960 Italia 2000 Coupe.

David LaChance and I met the Italia’s owner, New York City resident Corey Sherman, out in the Hamptons of Long Island to photograph and drive his beautifully restored car on a blisteringly hot July day. This Italia, number 58 of roughly 300 built, was originally purchased by an American serviceman and shipped to the States before it ended up spending 30 years in Toronto, after which it required a full restoration. The result of this work, chronicled in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car #3, was a stunningly handsome coach-built exotic with durable and easily sourced Triumph mechanicals.

The atmospheric conditions by the shore conspired to offer beautiful light, and the tall grass at a local airfield gave us a setting comparable to an English moor or a Tuscan field, both appropriate for this international charmer.